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Shingen Takeda
Shingen Takeda (1 December 1521-13 May 1573) was the daimyo of the Takeda clan of Kai Province. Known for his exceptional military prestige, Shingen led the best cavalry in Japan during the Sengoku Period. Shingen was also known for his friendship and rivalries with the Hojo and Uesugi clans of the Kanto Region, at times fighting and allying with Ujiyasu Hojo and Kenshin Uesugi. Shingen died in 1573 while besieging Kyoto. Biography Shingen Takeda was born on 1 December 1521 in Kofu Castle, Kai Province (now a part of Japan). Shingen's father Nobutora Takeda favored his younger brother Nobushige Takeda, but Shingen seized the land and power for himself and became the daimyo of his clan. He took advantage of the superior warhorses of Kai Province to recruit a cavalry corps that aided in his conquest. Shingen became the daimyo as a young man at the age of 21, and he was the commander of the Takeda forces that defeated the invading Murakami army near Kofu in 1545. Shingen became a powerful warlord, known for his frankness with his personal attendants and his fearsome personality. Shingen had two boy servants and three manservants, in addition to a hidden guard room, a room where he read the sutras, and several concubines. Shingen had several battle scars from his wars with his enemies, and Shingen was a feared opponent. His brother Nobukado Takeda served as his kagemusha until 1573, when a peasant from northern Japan served as his body double and his impersonator for two years after his death. In the 1550s, Shingen was caught up in the Sagami-Suruga Conflict between the Hojo clan of the Sagami (led by Ujiyasu Hojo) and the Imagawa clan of Suruga (led by Yoshimoto Imagawa). Shingen had made alliance treaties with both in 1545, but he chose to support his older ally, the Imagawa clan. His forces stopped the Hojo from capturing the region of Kanto, but later allied with the Hojo to defeat the Uesugi when they invaded the region. The Takeda and Hojo defeated Kenshin Uesugi's army when they laid siege to Odawara Castle from 13 March-April 1561 in hopes of keeping the Hojo in their debt, and they secured an alliance with the Hojo (Yoshimoto Imagawa and his clan perished in the 1560 Battle of Okehazama). Shingen won the battle of Kawanakajima on 10 September 1561 against the Uesugi forces, but the Uesugi were still strong and the "Kanto Three" of Shingen, Ujiyasu, and Kenshin resumed their rivalries. Shingen's attempt to take Odawara Castle from the Hojo at Mimase Pass on 8 October 1569 led to a strategic defeat in failing to take Odawara, but they inflicted a defeat on the Hojo at the Battle of Mimase Pass, laying the Hojo army to waste as inexperienced Hojo young generals Ujinaga Hojo and Ujikuni Hojo tried to pursue. Shingen won yet another victory at the Battle of Tonegawa in 1571 with aid from the Hojo, and this was to be his final battle with the Kanto Three. He proceeded to ally with the Uesugi and Hojo in a bid to secure the Ashikaga Shogunate capital of Kyoto, and began to advance west while Ujiyasu Hojo defended the lands back home in Kanto. In 1573, Shingen Takeda's army met the rival Tokugawa army of Ieyasu Tokugawa at the Battle of Mikatagahara, and the Takeda cavalry overran Tokugawa's soldiers and killed several Tokugawa generals and body doubles. Shingen proceeded to lay siege to Noda Castle, slaughtering several Tokugawa troops that charged out. He fought a war with both Ieyasu and Nobunaga Oda at the same time, and Nobunaga wished for Shingen to be killed, while Ieyasu would be disappointed if he died. During the siege, Shingen fell ill and Nobukado recommended a man to be his kagemusha; the man was from northern Japan and was supposed to be crucified for stealing, but he looked identical to Shingen. The Takeda cut the water lines to the castle, preventing the Tokugawa from getting water, but a flute player played several relaxing tunes. Shingen was angered that lord Asakura withdrew his army, and Masakage Yamagata chided Shingen for acting like a five-year-old for his anger over Asakura; Shingen told him to set up a chair for him with the army so that he could listen to the flute music. That night, a sniper fired an arquebus and wounded Shingen, causing panic in the Takeda ranks. Nobukado appointed the kagemusha as the body double as Shingen, as he did not want the enemy to believe that Shingen had died, and he did not want the troops to be demoralized. Shingen gathered his generals and told them to leave his dream of entering Kyoto as a dream, and told them not to move at all, instead defending their homeland. The Takeda army withdrew, and Shingen's palanquin was left on a hill. One day, Yamagata, the doctor, and his assistant visited Shingen there, but Shingen hallucinated, telling Yamagata that he saw Kyoto and told him to place his banners in the city. However, Shingen collapsed and died, so the generals secretly embalmed him, placed him in a large jar, and dumped the jar into Lake Suwa. Oda and Tokugawa spies saw this, but the Takeda passed it off as an offering of sake to the god of the lake. Category:Daimyo Category:Takeda Category:Japanese Category:Samurai Category:Killed Category:1521 births Category:1573 deaths Category:Shinto